


They Have Him

by justsomerain



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Aftermath of Torture, Comfort, Different People Different Methods of Showing Affection, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Movie Spoilers, Multi, Nightmares, Other, Polyamory
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-22
Updated: 2015-12-22
Packaged: 2018-05-08 12:41:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 739
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5497445
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/justsomerain/pseuds/justsomerain
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Torture leaves a mark on you. Torture by Force, when somebody rummages around in your brain like it's a messy room doubly so.</p>
            </blockquote>





	They Have Him

You’re alone in your mind. You’re supposed to be alone in your mind. To have somebody root around in your mind like it’s a messy room and they’re looking for something they misplaced is, barring nothing, the worst feeling there is.

Poe tries to forget it, laugh it off, because that’s what he does. He’s a pilot after all, disciplined, and he’s seen terrible things during his life, but he finds that no matter how much he tries, he can’t forget it.

The torture, the physical, that wasn’t even the worst, and it should be the worst thing that can happen to a person. Being strapped to a board and beaten until you bleed, making you spill your secrets by hurting you. That should be the worst thing that can happen, and they have been trained on how to deal with it.

That should be the worst thing.

But far worse was the pain that ass dick shit of a Sith wannabe made him feel just by rooting in his brain. And though he keeps up appearances during the day, his unconscious mind isn’t so kind to keep his secret.

The first week or so after his daring escape together with Finn he manages to keep it only in the back of his mind, instead of at the forefront, and anyway, there’s nobody there to hear him wake up suddenly, see his face grey as ash, hair matted down with sweat.

But then, like clockwork, at least three nights a week, he wakes up in the middle of the night, often silent enough, but invariable feeling sick to his stomach, and whenever he catches a glimpse of himself in the grimy mirror above the sink, he looks like a dead man walking.

It’s not so bad because being a commander means he has his own little living space, and so nobody has to know how affected he is.

It’s harder once Finn moves in.

After all, he hasn’t got anyone or anything, and Poe and him are friends (sure, just friends, a little voice says in the back of his head), so it makes sense that Finn moves into Poe’s quarters.

There is so little time spent that he doesn’t wake up in cold sweat while Finn is there, but after the destruction of Starkiller Base, the nightmares only come more and more and there’s not a night left where he doesn’t wake like that, in sweat and close to tears.

It happens just as often when he keeps watch over Finn, in a coma, Rey huddled up, knees pulled up, alongside him.

They don’t talk about it, because she is amazing and probably the next saviour of the galaxy or something, and there are more important things to focus on, like Finn, lying on a bed, looking small despite his size.

But it’s not like he doesn’t notice the way Rey looks when he wakes up from a nightmare, and the way she brings him food, gives him extra, pushing the bits she leaves onto his plate. 

She may not hug him like that one time (the only time) or soothe him with touches, but he knows what she’s doing.

“Somebody’s got to watch over Finn while I’m asleep,” she says, and Poe is fine with that explanation, even if they both know it’s more.

It seems years before Finn wakes, and even then he has to stay for observation, and Poe and Rey are right there alongside him.

The first time Finn catches Poe after one of his nightmares, it’s because his sudden jolting awake wakes up Finn. 

(So what if he stays close to both of them, Finn and Rey, they don’t have anybody but he’s here for them, for them both. Even if Rey isn’t fond of touch, Finn seems positively touch starved, taking any opportunity to touch either of them, and Poe doesn’t mind, and even Rey seems calmer holding hands with Finn, or being close to him.)

Sleepy blinking turns into full on frowning when he sees Poe’s hair matted down against his forehead, the way he looks like a ghost, pale as death. He moves a little, making space on the bed, where Rey is curled up against Finn, back to his side, and he opens his arms for him.

Sleeping is a little easier this close to those two who don’t have anything but each other. And him. 

They have him.


End file.
